I retired at 55, and this blog describes my experiences, observations and feelings about retirement.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Taking a vacation from retirement

Daffodils in snow the week we left for vacation

I know, I know...it doesn't seem like you would need a vacation if you are retired. What can I say? It was a very long winter!

Sometimes you don't know you need a break from chores and schedules until you get away. And gain a different perspective. And relax. And that's just what we did...

We headed to Mexico for a week of sunshine, warm weather and the ocean. And oh yes, food and drink.

Miles of walkways at the resort

The resort was absolutely beautiful, set in the jungle with beautiful palm trees, coconut trees and wildlife. The lodging was spread throughout the jungle, and we walked miles each day between restaurants, our room, the pool and the ocean.

Courtyard where we listened to live music at night

In front of one of the many water features

One of many...

Coati (usually they were traveling in packs in the woods). Kind of scary

We enjoyed fantastic food at all the restaurants including French, Indonesian, Japanese and Mexican. It was some of the best food I've ever eaten!

And I was a bit more adventurous this time, eating French, Indonesian and Japanese for the first time. And loving it!

Pool outside our room

We had a beautiful pool outside our room that stretched in front of several buildings. We also enjoyed a much larger pool where we floated for hours and enjoyed drinks at one of the two swim up bars.

Mike under aquaduct waterfall

The white sand beach was pristine, and we kicked off our shoes and walked and walked.

We enjoyed a snorkeling trip on a large catamaran. Well, Mike enjoyed snorkeling, and I enjoyed laying on the boat and watching the water. I've tried snorkeling before, but I prefer to stay away from fish and other ocean creatures. And generally my philosophy is that if we were supposed to swim in the ocean we would have gills. Usually Mike tries to convince me to snorkel, but truth be known, he probably had more fun without me as a nervous Nellie beside him.

A caption defies me ...

About half way through the week Mike finally relaxed and quit worrying about all the stuff he wasn't getting done at home. And as he proudly said at the end of the trip, "I didn't fix anything on this vacation". And that's definitely relaxation for him...

Enjoying the cigar bar

We've been home a week now, and we are as crazy busy as ever. But I can still see that beautiful beach in my mind, and I smile...

2 comments:

We stayed at the Valentin Imperial Maya which is in the Riveria Maya area, between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. It was about a 40 minute drive from the airport. We look forward to going back there some day!

About Me

My name is Diane, and I recently retired. I am exploring life after working for 30 plus years in banking and insurance. I love writing and photography, and I thought writing a blog about retirement would be a great way to chronicle this new chapter in life. And I'm starting to get used to the label "retiree", well sort of...